Heidi's BIG GIRL Office REveal!!!

LOVE.

Happy BIG GIRL in her new BIG GIRL OFFICE!  (Isn't she just soooo cute!)

New bookshelf from Crate and Barrel...purchased on sale.  (Ahem...I put this together, as well!)

Goodbye clutter!

An old Kodak camera becomes art...

  
The fresh wall color, fresh flowers, and fresh photos change the entire feel of this room.

Her new desk is infused with touches of all things HEIDI!

Her "h" coffee cup holds all the things she might need to be productive...lip gloss, nail file, Sharpies...I love this girl!

This "inspiration board" was all Heidi...she recovered the cork with beautiful paper and had it hung on the wall she stares at all day long.  It is filled with ideas/photos she just LOVES.

Gorgeous tea cup ready to go...

Not sure you can see this detail, but Heidi borrowed my label maker and printed out labels for the tabs of all her fun and bright file folders.  She has learned from me...it's all in the details!

She's a lover of fresh flowers...she buys them for herself weekly.  (I am following in her footsteps now and doing this for my house, too...thanks, Heidi!)

She is hiding her "junk" in cute bowls...instead of on top of her desk in a pile.

This amazing lampshade may have started all this madness...right, Heidi!?! The white curtains are from Pottery Barn Teen and are airy enough to give her the natural light she needs to work on her photos.  The curtain rods are from Target and give the sparkle and shine she wanted at a minimal price. 

The new rug brightens this small space without being too busy.  Her calendars are mounted to the closet door, so they are easy to access.  The red chair is used in photo shoots and adds a fun POP of color.  The old dresser was "zshuzshed" up by changing the knobs to shiny silver and glass...and none of them match.  Darling!

Another beautiful bowl that holds her business cards...

Here is the photo collage Heidi sent me of all the work we have done together...LOVE.

Are you inspired?

Hope so!

Heidi's Big Girl Office...in transition!

OPERATION BIG GIRL OFFICE:

Bedford Corner Desk  ordered (at a majorly discounted price!) from Pottery Barn -- CHECK!

ME putting the desk together...not hard, just cumbersome -- CHECK!

Shot #2 of me still putting the desk together... 
(This is what happens when you are working for a professional photographer...lots of unsuspected photographs of yourself!)

Shot #3 of me during the final tightening of the screws -- CHECK!

TADA!!!  

Finally, a desk that is really a desk and is super functional to boot!

Up next (literally)?

Frank (aka Poppy), my stepdad, taking down the old valance and putting up the new panels!

Stay tuned for the Big Girl Office REdo REveal...

It's FABULOUS!

It's Time for a Big Girl OFFICE!

I have a client (who's really my FRIEND) that is an AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHER.

You've probably heard me talk about her...A LOT.

Heidi Drexler...and she is AWESOME!

Heidi has grown her photography business, Heidi Drexler Photography, over the past 10 years and has become incredibly successful.

However, she has NOT grown her home office into a BIG GIRL (aka ADULT) space...YET.  

She has tried, but has not been able to give her office a true makeover due to her busy schedule as a mom of two (very energetic) boys, a wife (of a giant), and her thriving business...not to mention the guilt of spending money on herself.  

So....after a bit of prodding from me...she decided to take the plunge and focus on her HERSELF and HER work space.  (YAY Heidi!)

She needed this space to be just hers...a place that screams HEIDI...a space full of color and creativity...a place to inspire her while she works editing photographs that are going create memories that will last a lifetime for her clients.

Here are some BEFORE photos:

Notice her "desk" is an old console table...not super functional.  

Her plastic file cabinet was a fail.

Her photography almost masks the ugliness of what lies below... and she hates to see clutter.

This dresser is functional, but needed a little zshuzsh...mostly so she could forget that it was originally purchased as a changing table for her boys.

The colors of the rug did help brighten the room and gave a glimmer of her love for pattern and texture.  Her valance was fine, but she wanted a change...something lighter and more airy.

So there you have it...the BEFORE photos of Heidi's office.  

Stay tuned for the first installment of her office REdo...

Think a new and improved and FUNCTIONAL desk...DUH!

AN AWFUL OFFICE...in need of some serious love.

A high school girlfriend of mine emailed me a few months back asking for help with her office.  Of course I was more that willing to help her transform her AWFUL (to quote her) office into a gorgeous room that she and her family would LOVE to use to do homework, computer work, read or do projects.  

Below is our chain of emails to get this party started!!!

Carrie:
Hey Girl!  How are you?  I love your website, what you did for Heidi, etc...

Would love for you to come over and help me with my "office".  It now consists of an old desk, a computer, a bookshelf and an old metal filing cabinet.  I would love for it to be a cozy office/retreat/study/crafty place : )

Call me when you are free and hopefully set up a date for you to come over.

Thanks Rebecca!

Me:
Can you tell me what the space currently is, where it is, and what you'd love from the space?  Thx!

Carrie:
The room is 12x11 with a window measuring 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 on the North side and a closet on the other.  It is located upstairs with two other bedrooms.  It really has just become a "crap" holder and it's where our computer is that we all use quite often.

I don't have a job, but I do have the Marikle Foundation stuff, I do all the bills in here so files and checkbooks, office stuff, magazines, books...my camera and camcorder.
I have a desk in here that I hate and there isn't much lighting.  No overhead lighting. Took the rug out.  Really the only thing I have to keep in this room is the computer/printer.

What I would love:
Fresh, light and airy.  I love quotes, pictures and colors.  Orange is my favorite right now, just sayin'.  I LOVE to be organized, but am not at all.  I could stare at a newly organized drawer and smile for hours.  I want to eliminate all the stuff I don't use and have the bare essentials.  Don't know if there is room, but I am imaging the girls being cozy in a part of the room, reading, studying, doing homework, etc. They have brand new papasan chairs that don't fit in their rooms (mother-in-law's idea) that I would be willing to put in this office (either one or both).

Is that cool?  Let me know what to start working on or thinking of.  Can't wait!!!
Thank you.

Me:
Hello, Girlfriend!  Loved your email---very descriptive---you know what you like and don't like, so that is half of your problem solved!  I looked at my schedule and I am free this Thursday or Friday morning after 10 ish if you want to meet about your office.  Let me know if either of these mornings work, if not we can look into other dates.  In the meantime, try to think of a color that you would like on your walls that is on the lighter side than could compliment ORANGE.  Maybe a pale blue?  Very light in color and the orange will just pop off of it.  I am super excited to help you LOVE your new office!  Easy peasy....seriously!

(View from the entry door...tons of light and very open...love that!)

(Loved the bench in FRONT of the closet...what?!?)

(Notice all the great art she has framed and stacked in the corner...)

(Bare wall...begging to be noticed!)

Stay tuned for the AWFUL Office REveal...it's not so AWFUL anymore!

Office REnovation and REdesign--Design Dilemma!!

Client background:  After living in an old Webster home for 13+ years, it took my clients, Liz and Dave Austin,  almost 2 months to purge and organize their house before placing it on the market.  Not wanting to make the same mistakes with clutter and disorganization in their next old Webster house, they contacted me for help.

Formal Living Room--leading into Dave's office

Project 1 (out of 422)-- Dave’s office:  

The Austins want to turn an old sleeping porch/ sun room off the formal living room area into Dave’s office.  

Design dilemma: The small room is u-shaped with a fire place, former radiator case and long windows on three sides.  Traditional office furniture will not work.  Dave would like a work space that is organized and as clutter free as possible since the office can be seen from the formal living room via glass French doors.

Pros of this space:  bookcases, fireplace, gorgeous wood floors, french doors, and tons of natural light

Cons of this space:  (ironically) all of the PROS mentioned above, long and narrow, paneling, radiator case is empty, and shiny insulation on the backside of the end windows...really?!?

This office REnovation and REdesign is going to be interesting...can't wait for you to see what this wonky and wonderful space turns out to be!!!

Stay tuned.